Bed for automobiles



June 12, 1934. CRANE BED FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Aug. 31, 1955 2Shgegs-Sheet l June 12, 1934. CRANE 1,962,388

BED FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Aug. 31, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l'lflflranePatented June 12, 1934 r 1,962,388 BED FOR AUTOMOBILES Edward H. Crane,Inglewood, Calif. Application August 31, 1933, Serial No. 687,690

Claims.

This invention relates to automobile attachments and particularly toautomobile bed attachments.

The general object of the invention is to pro- 5 vide means whereby abed may be suspended upon an automobile above the top thereof, the bedstructure being such that it may be readily removed or put in place.

A further object is to provide a structure of this character which isvery simple, may be easily applied and easily taken down and whichprovides a bed and a canopy having curtains to extend down around thebed, if desired, and the canopy being adjustable toward or from the bed5 to increase or decrease the head room as may be desired.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Figure l is a side elevation of my motor bed constructed in appliedposition, the canopy being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 5 extra or auxiliaryfoot board adapted to be disposed over the ordinary running board of acar and having the downwardly extending corner lugs 11. There are two ofthese foot boards 10, one disposed over each of the running boards.

These foot boards are joined by transversely extending bolts 12 headedat one end and provided with the usual nut 13 at the other end.

These bolts 12 hold these foot boards in place upon the running boardsand prevent any lateral or upward movement of the foot boards.

For the purpose of supporting the bed, I provide four upwardly extendingsupporting members 14 which are preferably tubular, though I do not wishto be limited to this as they might be formed of angle iron or any otherirons having suflicient rigidity. The lower end of each of thesesupporting members 141s provided with an eye 15 through which the bolts12 pass, thus holding the lower ends of these supporting members rigidlyagainst the downwardly turned lugs 11. There are a pair of thesesupporting members 12 on each side of the car and they extend upward indivergent relation to each other. Telescoping within the upper end ofeach of these supporting members is an extension rod 16, the upper endofwhich terminates preferably in a metallic ball 17 which is bored for thereception of the canopy supporting ropes as will more fully hereinafterappear. These ropes 16 may be held in any adjusted position within thesupports 15 by any suitable means, as for instance, by set screws or byset collars or like means.

Adjacent the upper end of each of the supporting members 14 there isprovided the angular bracket 18 which may be cast or engaged with thesupporting member in any suitable manner, each arm of the angularbracket being provided with the socket 19. Engaged with these sockets 19are the longitudinal rails 20 and the transverse rails 21 which may betubular or of angle iron or have any other desired form or construction.These rails 20 and 21 support a bed bottom 22 which may be of canvas orother textile material or may be of woven wire or any other materialwhich will support a mattress. The upper ends of the supports 14 arealso provided with the angularly related arms 23 provided with socketsand engageable in these sockets are the rails 24 and 25, these railsbeing of any suitable material such as light angle iron. The spacebetween the upper rails 24 and 25 and the lower rails 20 and 21 isclosed by depending strips of canvas, rubber or other fabric designated26, these strips extending downward, if desired, below the bed bottom 22and which may depend below the roof of the car to prevent anyundercurrent of air from passing up through the bed bottom from below.

Passing through openings in the balls 17 are ropes 27 which support thecanopy 28, these ropes passing through passages in the balls 17 andextending down the supporting members 14 and being tied or connectedthereto in any suitable manner, as for instance, by cleats, carried bythe supporting members 14. The ropes 27 are to be drawn taut so as tohold the extension rods 16 firmly in place and stretch the canopytightly. The canopy 28 extends down over the ropes 27 at each side andover the 105 ends and preferably extends down below the car roof.

It will be understood that any one of these side curtains 29 of thecanopy may be held raised or partly raised in any suitable manner 110 soas to permit ventilation or may be held down tightly in case of rain.When the bed is not in use, the extension rods 16 may be forced downwardin the tubular members 14 so as to bring the canopy down close over thebed and the down-hanging curtains of the canopy may then be drawn underthe bed bottom 22 and tied beneath the bed bottom and around the edgesof the bed, thus making a complete enclosure, protecting the bedding oranything on the bed. A pneumatic pad or mattress may be used upon thebed bottom or the bed bottom may be so constructed that no mattress isnecessary of any kind. Preferably guy ropes 30 will extend downward fromthe upper ends of the forward pair of supports 14, these guy ropes beingextended downward to and engaged with the bumper. Like guy ropes may beattached to the upper ends of the rear pair of supports and extend downto the rear bumper. Preferably an upper pair of braces 31 may be pivotedto the supporting members 14 above' the rails 20 and 21 and a like pairof braces 32 will be pivoted to the supporting members 14 below therails 20 and 21. These braces at their ends will be provided with hooksfor the purpose of engaging studs on the rails 20 and 21, thusrigidifying the structure. These braces 30 and 31 may be, of course,pivoted upon the rails 20 and 21 and engaged with studs on the members14 without departing from the invention. The rear pair of uprights 14may also support a light canvas trunk, if desired.

It will be obvious that this structure may be collapsed and carried ontop of the car or on the running boards of the car and then set upwhenever desired or the rods 14 may be mounted on the car with thebedding supported upon the bed bottom 22 and the canopy closed down soas to protect the bedding while the car is running. Then all that isnecessary to do when it is desired to use the bed is to lift up thecanopy by raising the extension rods 16 to the proper height andreleasing the side and end curtains from around the mattress andbedding.

It will be seen that by having the supporting members 14 arranged inconvergent relation, though the lower ends of the supporting members aredisposed only the length of the foot board apart, yet the upper ends arethe length of the top of the car apart. Thus the bed may be maderelatively large so that persons using the bed may sleep crosswise ofthe car and that it is entirely possible under these circumstances todivide the space enclosed by the sides, ends and top canvasses into twoparts by a middle curtain, thus making two separated beds large enoughfor two or three people to sleep in each bed. Furthermore, by divergingthe supporting rods, greater resistance is offered to the weight of thebody or bodies, tending to depress the middle of the bed and the strainon the supporting members is more evenly distributed.

While I have illustrated what I believe to be a preferable construction,it is to be understood that many changes might be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:-

1. The combination with a motor car having a roof, of forward and rearpairs of supporting members detachably mounted upon the car andextending upward above the roof thereof, the supporting members at theirupper ends being tubular, extension rods disposed within the tubularupper ends of the supporting members, a lower set of bed bottomsupporting members detachably engaged with the supporting members, a setof braces detachably engaged with the upper ends of the supportingmembers and holding the supporting members in spaced relation to eachother, flaps of textile fabric attached to said braces and extendingdownward on all four sides of the bed bottom and a canopy carried bysaid extension rods.

2. The combination with a motor car having a roof of forward and rearpairs of supporting members detachably mounted upon the car andextending upward above the roof thereof, the supporting members at theirupper ends being tubular, extension rods disposed within the tubularupper ends of the supporting members, a lower set of longitudinal andtransverse rails detachably engaged with the supporting members andadapted to support a bed bottom, a set of braces detachably engaged withthe upper ends of the supporting members, flaps of textile fabricattached to said braces and extending downward on all four sides, cablesconnecting the upper ends of the extension rods to each other, and acanopy supported by said cables and having side and endflaps adapted toextend downward to the roof of the car.

3. The combination with a motor car, of detachable foot boards mountedupon the running boards of the car and having depending lugs, boltspassing through said lugs and extending transversely beneath the car,bed supporting members having eyes at their lower ends through whichsaid bolts pass, each bed supporting member adjacent its upper end beingprovided with angularly disposed arms having sockets, rails engagingsaid sockets, a bed bottom operatively connected to said rails, theupper ends of the supporting members being each provided with angularlyrelated arms, rails detachably engaged with said arms, side and endflaps of textile material depending from the last named rails andextending below the bed bottom, and a canopy detachably and adjustablymounted upon said supporting members.

4. The combination with a motor car, of detachable foot boards mountedupon the running boards of the car and having depending lugs, boltspassing through said lugs and extending transversely beneath the car,bed supporting members having eyes at their lower ends through whichsaid bolts pass, each bed supporting member adjacent its upper end beingprovided with angularly disposed arms having sockets, rails engagingsaid sockets, a bed bottom operatively connected to said rails, theupper ends of the supporting members being each provided with angularlyrelated arms, rails detachably engaged with said arms, side and endflaps of textile material depending from the last named rails andextending below the bed bottom, extension rods carried by and verticallyadjustable on the upper ends of the supporting members, cables passingthrough the upper ends of said extension rods, a canopy supported uponsaid cables and having side and end flaps adapted to extend downwardaround the bed, the rope supporting the canopy being reaved through theupper ends of the rods whereby the ropes may be tightened.

5. The combination with a motor car, of supporting rods detachablyconnected at their lower ends to and supported by the motor car,

second set of socketed arms embracing the supporting members, guy ropesengaged with said supporting members and with the car and holding saidsupporting members rigid, and a canopy adjustably mounted upon the upperends of the supporting members, the canopy having side and end curtainsextending down over the supporting structure and to the top of the car.

EDWARD H. CRANE.

